Train crashes

A train carrying hundreds of Pakistan soldiers and their families plunged several metres into a canal yesterday when a bridge collapsed in the country’s east in what the army suspects was sabotage, officials said.

At least six people were missing, but officials at the ministry of railways and the military had not confirmed any deaths. An army spokesperson confirmed that four carriages plunged into the canal.

The military is fighting a Taliban insurgency in several regions of the country’s tribal areas bordering Afghanistan in the northwest.
The crash in Pakistan’s Gujranwala district, in the northeast, happened as an army unit was being transported from southern Sindh province to northern Pakistan.

“There were around 300 passengers on board,” Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafiq told Reuters. “It is too early to say about the reason for the mishap. Rescue work is under way.”

More than 50 people were rescued, a military official said.

Television images of the scene showed several carriages partly submerged in the canal. — Reuters.